This chapter is from the book

This chapter is from the book

The Android Market

You're not limited to just the handful of apps that came preinstalled on your Galaxy Tab. Thousands of apps are available for your Galaxy Tab, many of them free or at a low cost to purchase. To get these apps, though, you need to learn how to access and use the Android Market.

Fortunately, accessing the Android Market is simple: Just open the Applications group and click the Market app icon, shown in Figure 7.1.

When the Android Market opens, you see a screen similar to the one in Figure 7.2. Your screen might look slightly different depending on the company you purchased your Galaxy Tab from, but for the most part, the app's search, purchase, and download features should work the same.

In Figure 7.2, notice the screen is divided into sections. There's a menu bar along the top that offers up an Apps button, a Games button, and possibly a button for carrier-specific apps (in this case, Verizon Wireless apps).

At the bottom of the screen is a scrollable window (up and down) that lists featured apps—these are popular apps that many users are downloading or new apps of interest. This list changes often, so something you see listed today might not be there tomorrow. For that reason, it's best to get used to using the Apps button to view a list of the categories that apps fall under.

If you want to immediately search for an app using keywords, tap the text box in the top-right corner of the screen and enter some keywords to search the entire applications database for apps that fit your search criteria.

Tap the Apps button and you see a screen similar to the one in Figure 7.3.

Category examples include Communication, Productivity, Sports, and Shopping. At the top of the list is the All Applications selection. Although this is useful, you might be overwhelmed by the list of available apps. For this reason, it's best to always tap a category before you begin searching for apps.

Our example is a search for a webcam app, which you can find under the Communication category (see Figure 7.4).

The name of the category displays at the top of the screen along with three buttons: Top Paid, Top Free, and Just In. When you're searching for something particular, though, you can use the Search feature in the top-right corner of the screen. In this case, however, the search is limited to the category you selected.

Tapping the Top Paid button enables you to view a scrollable list of the most popular apps that have been purchased. Likewise, clicking the Top Free button provides a scrollable list of the most popular free apps. In both cases, you can see a rating of one to five stars to the right of each app's name. (The price of an app is located above the rating.)

Tapping the Just In button provides a scrollable list of new apps, many of them free and others for a price.

Tip: Beware New Ratings

New apps often have few ratings. Because ratings are an average of all reviews, always look over the reviews that have been submitted. An app with a one-star review and a five-star review displays a three-star average review, making it difficult to determine whether an app is really useful. That's when you have to read the current reviews and take a risk.